Investigating Beliefs and Strategies of Japanese University Students in Learning EFL

抄録

This study sought to examine the beliefs of Japanese university EFL students. A questionnaire was used to investigate the relationships between the students' beliefs and strategies. The following findings were made in this study. First, it was found that many of them were strongly motivated to learn English and to make friends with native English speakers, although they had low self-efficacy in general. Second, in terms of the relationship between beliefs and strategies, it was suggested that successful learners could show us the ideal attitude of effective learning by emphasizing their own learning style. They were well motivated by the desire for authentic communication and believed that their continuous learning and reflective learning would result in their attaining their goals, such as success in examinations. Repetitive and reflective learning can make learners more positive, more tolerant of errors, and more confident and autonomous.